We recently completed Part 3 of the Mentor-Coaching Institute’s Foundational Coaching Skills program with four cohorts of remarkable programming leads and administrators from a district school board in northern Ontario, Canada.
Our learning journey together has been particularly significant given that two-third’s of the sessions were completed virtually, due to the pandemic’s restrictions around gathering. Fortunately, for Part 3 we were able to gather in person, and spend a full day of learning together.
The contrast of the two experiences – learning and facilitating alone at a computer compared with learning and facilitating together in the same room – was startling. It does indeed take the dark to truly appreciate the light, which is something I, and I know, many others, felt vividly.
With all of the technological and physical barriers for connection removed, being in the same room together was transformative. The system’s cultural relational field was accessible. The exchange of wisdom, learning, shared purpose and delicious laughter arrived more easily, as people turned to one another. Aristotle had it right, the whole is indeed far greater than the sum of its parts. And when communication and learning in relationship are the focus of the work, the power and value of ‘the whole’ cannot be overstated.
We all need access to the exchange of energy and information that happens when we can partner in our learning and growing. This provides us all with that deep feeling of connecting and belonging. And that, my friends, is what our world needs most right now. Here’s to any infrastructure for learning, like mentoring and coaching, that can set the stage for this to happen!
Being fully present and listening deeply feels like an easy and powerful place to start.
Some things we’re reading and listening to:
- IntraConnected: Mwe (Me+We) As the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging (Dr. Daniel Siegel, 2022).
Dr. Dan Siegel has cleared us a path away from the pervasive sense of isolation and separation that’s taken hold, and lead us to a relational, awe-embracing integrated place where ‘Mwe’ can come together. A remarkably poignant and timely prescription for what ails us. - How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication (Oscar Trimboli, 2022).
A fresh look with lots to hold onto. Practical and grounded in a wealth of research. Trimboli also has a podcast series. - Foundations 2: Living the Questions, October 2022, 8 minutes On Being with Krista Tippett.
